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Carolyn Kaster/ AP President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Myer in Arlington Va., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, during a Governmental Address to the Nation about a method he thinks will best position the United States to ultimately state success in Afghanistan.

By Josh Lederman and Robert Burns, Associated Press

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017|12:15 a.m.

WASHINGTON– Reversing his past require a speedy exit, President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan Monday night, declaring U.S. troops should “battle to win.” He specifically decreased to reveal the number of more troops will be dispatched to wage America’s longest war.

In a prime-time address to unveil his new Afghanistan strategy, Trump said the United States would move away from a “time-based” technique, instead linking its support to outcomes and to cooperation from the beleaguered Afghan government, Pakistan and others. He insisted it would be a “regional” method that dealt with the roles played by other South Asian countries– specifically Pakistan’s harboring of components of the Taliban.

“America will deal with the Afghan federal government as long as we see determination and development,” Trump said. “Nevertheless, our commitment is not unlimited, and our support is not a blank check.”

Still, Trump offered few information about how progress would be measured. Nor did he describe how his method would differ substantively from what two presidents prior to him attempted unsuccessfully over the past 16 years.

Although Trump insisted he would “not discuss numbers of soldiers” or telegraph military moves in advance, he hinted that he ‘d embraced the Pentagon’s proposal to boost troop numbers by nearly 4,000, enhancing the approximately 8,400 Americans there now.

Prior to ending up being a candidate, Trump had ardently argued for a fast withdrawal from Afghanistan, calling the war an enormous waste of U.S. “blood and treasure” and stating on Twitter, “Let’s get out!” 7 months into his presidency, he stated Monday night that though his “initial instinct was to pull out,” he ‘d considering that figured out that method might develop a vacuum that terrorists including al-Qaida and the Islamic State would “immediately fill.”

“We will ask our NATO allies and worldwide partners to support our brand-new technique, with additional troop and funding boosts in line with our own. We are confident they will,” Trump said in remarks echoed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Earlier this year, Trump revealed he was delegating Mattis and the military with the choice about how many troops would be required. In talking points sent out Monday to congressional Republican politicians and helpful groups, the White Home affirmed that the troop numbers were up to Mattis and added that the administration wasn’t looking for more loan from Congress for the method in the current , which concludes at the end of next month.

While Trump worried his technique had to do with more than just the military, he was vague on other “instruments of American power” he said would be deployed in full force to lead Afghanistan toward peace, such as financial advancement or brand-new engagement with Pakistan and India. Missing military specifics, it was challenging to evaluate how his strategy might dissolve the stalemate between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

On one point– the definition of triumph– Trump was unquestionable. He said American troops would “battle to win” by attacking opponents, “squashing” al-Qaida, avoiding terror attacks versus Americans and “obliterating” the Islamic State group, whose affiliate has gotten a foothold in Afghanistan as the United States squeezes the extremists in Syria and Iraq.

Trump’s definition of a win especially did not consist of defeating the Taliban, the group whose harboring of al-Qaida led the U.S. to war in Afghanistan in the days after the 9/11 attacks. Like President Barack Obama before him, Trump conceded that any option that brings peace to Afghanistan might well include the Taliban’s participation.

“One day, after an effective military effort, perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes components of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Trump stated. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in a declaration after the speech, said the United States was ready to support peace talks with the Taliban “without prerequisites.”

Talk of future Taliban reconciliation was among a number of echoes of Obama woven into Trump’s plan. Like Trump, Obama insisted near the start of his presidency that the “days of supplying a blank check are over,” advised a regional approach and stated U.S. help would be based on efficiency.

Still, Trump was intent on differentiating his method from his predecessors– at least in rhetoric. He emphasized there would be no timelines, no hamstringing of the military and no divorcing of Afghanistan from the region’s more comprehensive issues.

One action being considered to more capture Pakistan is to cut foreign help programs unless Islamabad secures down on the Taliban and an involved group referred to as the Haqqani network, senior administration authorities informed reporters ahead of Trump’s speech. Utilizing civilian and military aid as a pressure lever with the Pakistanis has actually been pursued years.

Trump’s speech concluded a months-long internal argument within his administration over whether to draw back from the Afghanistan conflict, as he and a couple of consultants were inclined to do, or to embroil the United States more in a war that has actually avoided American services for the previous 16 years. Numerous times, authorities forecasted he was nearing a choice to adopt his leaders’ suggestions, only to see the final judgment delayed.

And while Trump has actually vowed to put “America First,” keeping U.S. interests above any others, his national security advisers have actually alerted that the Afghan forces are still far too weak to succeed without aid. Even now, Afghan’s government manages just half the country.

In Kabul, Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid dismissed Trump’s speech as “old” and his policy as “unclear.” However the plan was cheered by Afghanistan’s government. Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, the Afghan envoy to Washington, called it a “10 from 10.”

“We heard precisely what we needed to,” Mohib stated in a phone interview. “The concentrate on the numbers has actually taken away the genuine concentrate on exactly what should have been: what conditions are required and exactly what kind of assistance is required.”

Among U.S. chose officials, the reception was equally mixed, reflecting the deep departments among Americans about whether to lean into the dispute or pull back.

John McCain, the Senate Armed Providers Committee chairman who had actually slammed Trump for hold-ups in presenting a plan, said the president was “now moving us well beyond the previous administration’s stopped working strategy of merely holding off defeat.” Home Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi stated the speech was “short on details but raises severe questions.”

“Tonight, the president stated he knew what he was getting into and had a plan to move forward. Plainly, he did not,” stated Pelosi, D-Calif.

At its peak, the United States had approximately 100,000 in Afghanistan, under the Obama administration in 2010-2011. The recurring forces have been concentrated on advising and training Afghan forces and on counterterror operations– objectives that aren’t anticipated to drastically change under Trump’s strategy.

Rahmat Gul/ AP In this April 17, 2017, file image, U.S. forces and Afghan security authorities are seen in Asad Khil near the website of a U.S. bombing in the Achin district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Pentagon will send out practically 4,000 additional American forces to Afghanistan, a Trump administration official stated June 15, wishing to break a stalemate in a war that has actually now passed to a third U.S. commander-in-chief.

By Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns, Associated Press

Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017|2:12 p.m.

CAMP MOREHEAD, Afghanistan– Signaling that the United States military expects its objective to continue, the leading U.S. leader in Afghanistan on Sunday hailed the launch of the Afghan Army’s new unique operations corps, declaring that “we are with you and we will stick with you.”

Gen. John Nicholson’s exhortation of continued support for the Afghans recommended the Pentagon may have won its argument that America’s military need to stay participated in the conflict in order to insure terrorists do not as soon as again threaten the U.S. from safe houses in Afghanistan.

The White House revealed that President Donald Trump would resolve the country’s troops and the American people Monday night to update the course forward in Afghanistan and South Asia.

Nicholson, speaking prior to the White House statement, said the commandos and a strategy to double the size of the Afghan’s special operations forces are important to winning the war.

“I ensure you we are with you in this fight. We are with you and we will stay with you,” he said throughout an event at Camp Morehead, a training base for Afghan commandos southeast of Kabul.

The Pentagon was waiting for a last announcement by Trump on a proposition to send almost 4,000 more U.S. soldiers to Afghanistan. The added forces would increase training and recommending of the Afghan forces and strengthen counterterrorism operations versus the Taliban and an Islamic State group affiliate attempting to get a foothold in the nation.

The administration has been at chances for months over how to craft a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan amidst disappointments that 16 years after 9/11 the conflict is stalemated.

The Afghan government just manages half of the country and is beset by endemic corruption and infighting. The Islamic State group has actually been hit hard but continues to attempt significant attacks, insurgents still find safe harbor in Pakistan, and Russia, Iran and others are increasingly aiming to form the result. At this point, everything the United States military has actually proposed points to keeping the Afghan government in location and having a hard time to turn a dismal quagmire around.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he is pleased with how the administration formulated its brand-new Afghanistan war technique. However he chose not to talk about the new policy up until it was disclosed by Trump.

He stated the deliberations, including talks at the Camp David presidential retreat on Friday, were done correctly.

“I am really comfortable that the strategic procedure was adequately extensive,” Mattis said, speaking aboard a military aircraft on an overnight flight from Washington to Amman, Jordan.

Months ago, Trump offered Mattis authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, however Mattis said he has not yet sent out significant additional forces to the fight. He has actually stated he would await Trump to set the tactical instructions first.

Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he had actually made decisions at Camp David, “consisting of on Afghanistan,” but he did not say more about it. The expectation had actually been that he would agree to a modest boost in the U.S. war effort, while also addressing wider political, economic and local issues.

Mattis stated Trump had existed with numerous alternatives. He did not call them, however others have stated one alternative was to take out of Afghanistan completely. Another, which Mattis had mentioned just recently in Washington, was to employ private specialists to perform some of the U.S. military’s responsibilities.

At Camp Morehead, lines of Afghan commandos stood at attention as Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and a host of proud dignitaries sat under flag-draped canopies and invited the development in their country’s long-struggling military.

In short remarks to the force, Nicholson stated a defeat in Afghanistan would deteriorate security in the United States and “embolden jihadists worldwide.”

That’s why, he stated, the U.S. is assisting to double the size of the Afghan commando force, adding that the event “marks the beginning of the end of the Taliban.”

Maj. Gen. James Linder, the head of U.S. and NATO special operations forces in Afghanistan, said the almost 4,000 troops asked for by the Pentagon for Afghanistan consists of about 460 trainers for his staff to assist increase the size of the special operations forces.

He stated he ‘d be able expand training places and insure they have advisors at all the best levels, including on the brand-new Afghan special operations corps staff.

According to a senior U.S. military officer in Kabul, increasing the number of American troops would permit the military to rapidly send out additional advisers or airstrike assistance to two simultaneous operations. Today, the authorities stated, they can only do so for one.

The officer stated it would enable the U.S. to send out fighter aircraft, refueling airplane and surveillance aircraft to multiple places for objectives.

The officer was not licensed to go over the details publicly so spoke on condition of privacy.

Afghan military leaders have been clear that they want and expect continued U.S. military aid.

Taking out American forces “would be an overall failure,” Col. Abdul Mahfuz, the Afghan intelligence agency chief for Qarahbagh, north of Kabul, said Saturday. And he said that substituting paid contractors for U.S. troops would be a formula for continuing the war, instead of completing it.

Mahfuz and other Afghan leaders spoke at a shura council meeting at Bagram air base participated in also by U.S. military officers and Afghan intelligence authorities.

Col. Abdul Mobin, who commands an Afghan mechanized battalion in the 111th Division, said any decrease in the United States military existence “leads to overall failure.”

Speaking through an interpreter, he included that operations by Afghan and U.S. unique operations forces have actually been extremely effective, which “the presence of U.S. military workers is felt and thought about a positive step for peace.”

He stated he wishes to see an additional 10,000 American troops in the nation.

title =” (Source: CNN) “border =” 0″ width =” 180 “/ > (Source: CNN). (CNN)– The United States military has actually dropped a massive bomb in Afghanistan, inning accordance with 4 United States military officials with direct knowledge of the mission.

A GBU-43/ B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed MOAB, was dropped at 7 p.m. local time Thursday, the sources stated.

The MOAB is also referred to as the “mother of all bombs.” A MOAB is a 21,600-pound, GPS-guided munition that is America’s most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

The bomb was dropped by an MC-130 airplane, operated by Air Force Special Operations Command, inning accordance with the military sources.

They said the target was ISIS tunnels and workers in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province.

The military is presently examining the damage. Gen. John Nicholson, commander of United States forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb, according to the sources.

This is the very first time a MOAB has actually been utilized in the battleground, inning accordance with the United States authorities. This munition was established during the Iraq War.

KABUL, Afghanistan– Three personnel of medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders were eliminated and more than 30 people were unaccounted for after a trauma center was struck by aerial bombing early Saturday in Kunduz, Afghanistan, the charity stated in a statement.

The medical center was struck several times.

U.S. forces carried out a strike close by “versus individuals threatening the force” that “might have led to civilian casualties to a nearby medical facility,” Army spokesperson Col. Brian Tribus stated in a statement.

“We do not yet have the final casualty figures, but our medical teams are providing emergency treatment and treating the hurt patients and MSF workers, and accounting for the departed,” stated Bart Janssens, operations director for the company also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres.

When the aerial attack happened Saturday early morning, 105 clients and their caretakers were in the healthcare facility. More than 80 MSF international and national personnel existed.

A high school English teacher who led a squad of 29 Nevada National Guard soldiers to protect military leaders and VIPs in war-ravaged Afghanistan stated Friday he’s pleased to be house and happy they all returned “in one piece.”

“This has actually been a speedy of emotion and tension and struggle. It’s a terrific relief knowing I’m back right here with my family and to obtain back in the swing of my routine life as a civilian,” stated 1st Lt. Jeffrey Hopkinson of Nevada’s oft-deployed 72nd Armed force Authorities Business.

Hopkinson, who teaches at Sunup Mountain High School, talked about his squadron’s almost yearlong deployment following a demobilization event Friday afternoon total with a “welcome house” speech by Gov. Brian Sandoval at the Las Vegas Preparedness Center.

“Your service has excellent sacrifice, not just from you but from your households,” Sandoval informed the citizen-soldiers who stood in development at parade rest.

“Each one of you put your life on the line and positioned your future on hold. … Each time I stroll into a room and see these pleased faces that represent the Fight Born State my heart swells with pride,” he stated.

Hopkinson was 36 when he left on this, his very first deployment. He said he doesn’t understand yet if the experience has altered his outlook, but “it’s great to be back in the classroom. It’s definitely a different experience now that I have actually been overseas.”

Without explaining about where their convoy escort objectives took them, he stated they were often at risk of opponent contenders as the U.S.-led coalition makes the shift to letting the Afghan National Army fend for itself.

“There is constantly an element of threat when you go overseas, where you’re operating in an environment where some individuals welcome your presence and others don’t,” he said. “So we certainly did face our share of threat, however we’re simply extremely pleased that of our soldiers came home in one piece and we’re all safe and sound.”

A second wave of about 30 Nevada MPs relieved Hopkinson’s platoon late this summertime making a smooth change in their responsibility to secure high-ranking authorities for the International Security Support Force.

The 72nd Armed force Authorities Company has actually now deployed five times because the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The deployments consist of a stateside security detail at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., in support of Operation Noble Eagle; a law-and-order stint in the aftermath of Cyclone Katrina; and overseas tours for operations Iraqi Flexibility and Enduring Freedom.